WB Signs Segal and Ewing to Three-Year Deal

Warner Bros. has signed Get Smart director Peter Segal and his Callahan Filmworks partner Michael Ewing to a three-year first-look deal, reports Variety.

Segal and Ewing kick off the deal with Liam McBain: International Tennis Star and Proper English Geezer, a Chip Hall-scripted spec script. Segal will develop to direct a film that follows the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of a fictional British tennis star of the ’80s.

As part of the deal, WB has also acquired the John August-scripted Captain Marvel; Segal will direct the DC Comics adaptation. He and Ewing began working on the film two years ago at New Line, but the property has moved over to WB. The film tells the story of teenaged Billy Batson, who transforms into the superhero when he says the word “Shazam!”

Deal comes as Segal prepares to direct a sequel to Get Smart for WB and Village Roadshow Pictures. Ewing was a producer of the original film, along with Chuck Roven, Alex Gartner and Andrew Lazar. Segal was an executive producer. The Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember-scripted sequel is expected to shoot next year.